Nature & Tourist Sights

Nature & Tourist Sights

TABO MONASTERY

Tabo is a green oasis of a village nestled between snaking Spiti river and barren skyscraper Himalayan cliffs at an altitude of over 10500 feet.

Tabo is world known for the 1030 year old Buddhist monastry which is the oldest active Gompa in the Himalayas This Monastery estd. in 996 is the second oldest after the potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet.

Nine temple complex,made of pure mud, has withstood the harsh climate of the cold desert for this long many years.

There are many priceless collection of Buddhist pantheon thangkas life of the Tibeto Mangoloid Schedule Tribe of the Sham valley.

Owing to high altitude and low temperature, the fruit matures slowly thus resulting in juicy,crispy,tasty fruits with attractive red colour and good keeping quality.

Spiti Apples are recognised as one of the better qualities in India,if not the best, fetching at garden gate over Rs. 100 per kg retailing at Rs.250 per kg in Metro Cities.

Apart from Apple, Sand Pear, Apricots, Plums, Grapes are also grown though not commercially yet.

MEDITATION CAVES

A 75 step climb from the main road leads to caves in the heart of Tabo. Caves burrowed in the steep and barren cliffs were used by the Lamas for Meditating in harsh weather. Caves are generally cool in summer and warm in winter, thus providing ideal environment for uninterrupted meditation. Some cave walls in Tabo are covered with Thangka paintings.

Caves at Lari, a pleasant treking distance of Five kilometers from Tabo, are active even today with daily worshiping rituals by Lamas.

APPLES

On a trial of Apple trees planted in southern Spiti in 1974 and on its success,it has become a major cash crop that has transformed the economic life of the Tibeto Mangoloid Schedule Tribe of the Sham valley.

Owing to high altitude and low temperature, the fruit matures slowly thus resulting in juicy,crispy,tasty fruits with attractive red colour and good keeping quality.

Spiti Apples are recognised as one of the better qualities in India,if not the best, fetching at garden gate over Rs. 100 per kg retailing at Rs.250 per kg in Metro Cities.

Apart from Apple, Sand Pear, Apricots, Plums, Grapes are also grown though not commercially yet.

MUMMY LAMA

The Indian Army tumbled upon a Mummy Lama in a broken stupa near Geu, during a post avalanche relief in 1974. It was later confirmed by carbon dating to be that of a meditating 45 year old lama,Sangha Tenzin,dated back to 1340 A.D.

This 675 year old Mummy with hairs,nails and teeth intact has been housed in Geu monastery,about 30 Kms from Tabo.

Doesn't the word Mummy raise curiosity to anyone?!

ROCK ART

These are rock carvings that are 3500 year old at Tabo & Lari, a village five km from the Tabo monastery.

The unique rock art and vast expanse of Petro Glyths in the tribal district of Lahaul-Spiti could well be bestowed with the tag of the UNESCO World Heritage Site as the area is a unique cold desert.

Petroglyph refers to images created on the surface of stone boulders/ rocks by incision, pecking, carving, abrading, etc. Pictographs are paintings of earlier time that can be seen on Cave walls or rock shelters.

Figures depicted are human n animals figurines, geometricals, weapons swastika & tibetan inscription.

Rock art sanctury should be established to preserve these precious n irreplacable heritage of Shamsh Valley.. Rock art and Petro Glyths spread over 19 sq km, can emerge as a big tourist attraction if labelled n managed well. Photo P18

VILLAGE WALK ABOUT

Enjoy a leisurely walk, relaxed hike amidst tall barren cliffs, lots of birds n insects around, surrounding magnificent views of barren wind eroded hills, with an educated knowledgeable guide.

The first thing you notice is the bright content faces of fluffy n friendly street dogs.

A guided walk through a tribal Tabo Dedicated mobile applications for use in smartphones allow any user to easily locate celestial objects of interest by simply pointing the smartphone device in that direction in the sky. The inbuilt hardware in the phone, such as GPS location and gyroscope provide information about the pointed object like celestial coordinates, the name of the object, its constellation, etc.